01/03/2008
Martha Felicitas (Stern) Guthridge, 89, passed away at Berlin Health and Rehabilitation Center on Saturday, December 15, 2007. Born in Rheydt, Germany, on June 6, 1918, she and her family immigrated to the United States via Holland in 1938, settling in Montclair, NJ. Martha became a citizen in 1944.

As one of the first women ski instructors in this country she started her own ski school at Pocono Manor Inn, PA. It was there she met her future husband, Richard, and they were married in Charlotte, VT, in 1946.

With their love for skiing and Vermont they moved here permanently in 1948 and lived in Waterbury. Too many friends and family visiting pushed Martha to find a larger house. This was the start of her owning and operating the Ski Hostel Lodge in Waterbury Center. The lodge ran very successfully under her guidance and hard work from 1956 to 1983. It was a great passion for Martha. Guests became friends and extended family. After 27 years at age 65 she retired to Stowe so she could begin again years of skiing, traveling extensively and enjoying her family and friends.

Martha's independent spirit and her love of life will be a loss for everyone that knew and loved her.

She is predeceased by her husband Richard John Guthridge, 1962, and her son Dicky, 1960, and her brother John Kurt Stearns. Martha is survived by her daughters, Norma Stancliffe of Morrisville; granddaughters Heather Beres of CT and Michelle Caldwell of Morrisville; her daughter Karin Hawkes and husband Martin of Monkton; her grandson Ian Hawkes of NJ and her granddaughter Jessica Hawkes of NYC; her daughter Lisa Russell and husband Theodore Tremper and her granddaughter Allyson Russell of Waitsfield. She is also the proud great-grandmother of five: James, Elliot, Lucas, Gabriele and Max.

Committal services will be held this spring in Waterbury Center Cemetery.

Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers would be appreciated to the Alzheimer's Association, Vermont Chapter, 172 North Main Street, Barre, VT 05641-4124. To send online condolences, please visit www.perkinsparker.com. Assisting the family is the Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury.